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Weekly marketing tips, updates on trends and strategy pointers.

June 21, 2019

Improve YouTube engagement rate

There’s no denying that today’s consumers are visual people. According to Forbes, 90% of consumers argued that video content helped them make purchasing decisions and 64% of customers say that watching a video increased their chances of buying something.

Video marketing may not be a new concept, yet developing compelling video content that engages audiences remains a real challenge for marketers today. In this article, we outline some tips and tricks to produce remarkable videos that will make viewers stop what they’re doing.

Capture attention immediately

Thanks to technology, attention spans are shrinking. Consequently, people don’t have as much patience to sit through your entire video — and even if they did, they might stop paying attention if it’s too long or too boring. So if something doesn’t grab your viewer immediately, they’re very likely to hit the skip, scroll, or fast-forward button.

So, how can you grab your viewer’s attention before they reach for the mouse? Make your content relevant. Some of the best video campaigns tread the fine line between storytelling and marketing successfully, for example, Purina. With the help of BuzzFeed, the dog food company produced a series of videos that followed the adventures of a man who decided to adopt a puppy. The interactions are cute and amusing, while subtly illustrating the brand message that puppies should only eat specially formulated puppy food. To date, the first video has been viewed almost 25 million times and liked by more than 439 thousand viewers.

Our tip: Create content that surprises and intrigues right from the beginning. By doing this, you’ll have the chance to get your reader hooked on your message so they are less likely to skip — and more likely to engage.

Create content that is useful and helpful

Viewers turn to online video for a variety of reasons, including entertainment. They are also watching videos for educational purposes, from learning how to apply false eyelashes to asking for directions in a foreign language. More recently, we’ve seen that consumers are using search (text and video) for inspiration and ideas. Successful brands are realizing this and are creating content that entertains as well as informs and educates. Take food magazine Bon Appétit, for example. To complement their print publication, Bon Appétit established a YouTube channel to showcase interesting food documentaries, kitchen tips and tricks, and tutorials for popular recipes.

The channel offers the kind of content that viewers want: inspiration for their next meal and practice advice for common problems novice home cooks may face in the kitchen. To date, Bon Appétit has almost 4 million subscribers and most of its videos receive over 1 million views.

Our tip: To stand out in a sea of ads, think about creating helpful content that meets the needs of curious consumers. If you can teach and inspire your viewers, they won’t just watch your videos passively — instead, they’ll convert into loyal supporters of your brand.

Work with YouTube creators

Influencer marketing takes the idea of the traditional celebrity endorsement and places it into today’s content-driven marketing campaigns. And today, we’re seeing the lines between traditional celebrities and influencers blur, especially on YouTube. As a result, a new type of influencer has emerged: the YouTube creator.

We know that video is a wonderful way for brands to develop relationships with people — and YouTube creators can be utilized to create a two-way dialogue between a brand and its potential customers.

Our tip: Consider collaborating with a YouTube creator — it is a high-impact strategy that will not only allow you to reach engaged audiences but also enable you to serve relevant ads alongside the relevant channel.

Don’t forget to include a call-to-action (CTA)

At the end of the day, our goal is to get viewers to take action. Inserting CTA prompts within video content can be a little trickier than written copy, but CTAs are a great way to nudge your viewers to complete an action such as visiting your website, subscribing to your channel, or sending an SMS to express their interest.

Another video CTA you can deploy is to suggest another video. Why? If your audience starts watching a few of your videos in a row, your brand trust and affinity will grow. To ensure your audience continues to keep watching your videos, we suggest displaying related videos that they’re more likely to watch. We did precisely that with our Make the Switch series; at the end of each video, we prompted viewers to click on videos that were related to the one they had just watched.

Our tip: Compelling creative must be complemented by an enticing CTA, making it easy for your viewer to take the next step the journey whether it be visiting your website, sending an SMS to express their interest in your product, or signing up for a free product trial.